Spirit of the Woods

A Talk

A Talk

Lungmen

Firewatch's face betrayed no emotions as she watched Kal'tsit reveal herself from the shadows. However, her mind was rife with turmoil as dozens of scenarios played in her head. Where did she come from? Why is she here? How much does she know? Firewatch gripped her blade harder. Does Kal'tsit think she's a traitor? She gritted her teeth, "What do I owe the pleasure, Doctor Kal'tsit?"

Kal'tsit looked at her before throwing her hand up in an exasperated manner. "You can put that away, Operator Firewatch. Unlike Red, I can understand things beyond the situation at hand. Even though you were talking to the enemy, you still caused considerable damage to their leadership and didn't divulge any sensitive information."

Firewatch squinted her eyes. How long has she been listening? "Did you hurt him?"

"You don't have to worry about your friend," Kal'tsit assured her. "He wasn't touched."

She sighed and put away Kaze. "What do you want from me, then?"

"I was just passing through but, It's not every day you meet a member of the Vistula tribe, especially the daughter of their last chief."

Firewatch took a step back. "How do you know that? I said nothing about that during my interview."

Kal'tsit scoffed. "I have more information channels than you could fathom. Besides, I knew your father."

"My father? When?"

"Back when he served the Ursus army. He was known as the Great General Aleysky Nowak before he left. Served with Hellagur during the Bloodpeak Campaign," Kal'tsit sighed, "an excellent leader, a shame what happened to him later."

"If you knew all of this, why are you revealing it to me now?"

"When you first joined, I had suspicions about your identity. There are dozens of Elafian tribes out there, but back when you joined, you didn't have that blade tied to your side. Now that it is, it was quite easy to make the inference."

"Is that it?" Firewatch asked. "You're here to confirm your suspicions?"

Kal'tsit shrugged her shoulders, "Take it as an on-the-spot employee evaluation. The real reason I'm here is to ask for your report on the Doctor, seeing that you haven't been able to give one for a couple of months."

"He's getting on just fine." Firewatch said as she put down her guard, "Jacob is creating bonds with his operators and is leading them with minimal casualties."

The lynx gave Firewatch a glance at her use of Jacob's first name but didn't say anything about it. "No abrupt emotions? No old memories?"

Firewatch shrugged, "I guess you call the brief outburst he had before the Misha mission, but that was justified."

"In what way?"

"Survivor's guilt."

Kal'tsit placed a finger on her chin and muttered, "That should be impossible for that monster."

"Hmm?" Hummed Firewatch as she struggled to hear what she said.

"Nothing. The Doctor should finish his talk soon. Here, take this." Kal'tsit threw Firewatch a small box. She turned it in her hands and discovered it was cigarettes. Before Firewatch could ask, Kal'tsit explained, "It's an excuse for any long absences for reports from now on. You don't have to actually use them. With that, I'll be off. Continue your mission." She then returned to the darkness, leaving Firewatch alone in the alley for the second time.

Firewatch looked at the box in her hand again. After a bit of consideration, she opened the lid and pulled on a single cigarette. She wasn't a smoker, but with all that has been happening; she needed something to calm her nerves. Retrieving a lighter from her bag, she held it and the cig to her mouth and lit it. As the tip burned orange, Firewatch took a quick pull before letting out a plume of smoke. She took a couple more before tossing it and crushing the embers with her boots. Let's hope it doesn't become too common.